Backover accidents are devastating and happen all too often, even with the increasing prevalence of backup cameras in most vehicles. Regardless, many people are unsure of who is at fault for a backover accident, and liability is not always as clear as it is in rear-end collisions. However, the team at Wofsey Rosen will work tirelessly to determine what happened and hold those responsible accountable.
What Qualifies as a Backover Accident?
A backover accident is one in which a vehicle strikes a pedestrian, cyclist, or another vehicle while reversing. These most often occur as drivers back out of driveways or parking lots, but could happen anywhere.
Children in Backover Accidents
Unfortunately, according to a report on kids and car safety, children aged 12 to 23 months are the most common victims of these accidents, and of the driver is usually someone they know. The same report tells us that approximately 50 children are involved in these types of incidents in the U.S. every week.
Establishing Negligence in a Backover Accident
Determining negligence, and therefore fault, in a backover accident can be complicated, especially when multiple parties are involved. However, the process for making this determination is the same regardless of your circumstances.
Liability for any personal injury case or car accident is based on establishing four principles:
Duty of Care: You must show that the driver responsible for the backover accident owed the injured person a duty of care.
Breach of Duty: You must establish that the responsible party failed to meet his or her duty of care.
Cause: Next, the insurance company and eventually a jury must be convinced that this breach of duty directly caused the accident and injuries.
Damages: Finally, you must have sustained damages as a result of the incident, and have medical bills, lost wages, and/or receipts for other related expenses to support your claim.
You must satisfy each of these elements to recover compensation in your case, and while liability might be obvious in some circumstances, such as when the driver is distracted by his or her phone when the incident occurs, other situations might be more complicated and require a deeper investigation.
Common Points of Liability in a Backover Accident
Many things can go wrong to cause a backover accident. The car accident attorneys at Wofsey Rosen are committed to fully investigating all possible avenues of liability. Though it may seem like the only people at fault are the drivers, others may share some blame as well.
The Driver
In most backover cases, the driver is the one directly responsible for the accident. Most often, this is due to a failure to check his or her blind spots because of either blatant inattention or relying too heavily on backup cameras.
According to an article from State Farm, backup cameras alone are not sufficient to ensure a clear path and drivers should still manually check their blind spots and account for all known bystanders before backing out.
The Vehicle Owner
There may be instances where the vehicle owner is responsible for the accident, even if the driver is someone other than the owner. This liability can be compounded if the owner neglected to maintain the vehicle or violated negligent-entrustment laws by allowing someone known to be reckless or dangerous to use his or her vehicle.
Employers
Sometimes an employer can be legally responsible for a backover accident in a similar capacity to that of a vehicle owner. If the employer fails to appropriately vet an employee, it may be found at fault for allowing an unqualified employee to drive company vehicles or conduct company business.
Similarly, if the employer might bear some responsibility if it fails to ensure the employee is properly trained and supervised. For example, an employer who received several complaints about an employee’s driving but failed to address the issue may have breached its duty of care.
Vehicle Manufacturers
If your backover accident was caused by a product malfunction, the vehicle or parts manufacturer could be responsible if the failing component could have prevented the accident had it worked correctly.
Property Owner
If your backover accident occurred in a parking lot or driveway and visibility was obstructed due to poor property maintenance, the property owner or manager may share responsibility for the accident. This most commonly occurs when landscaping or construction blocks a driver’s view of pedestrians or other motorists.
Determining Fault in a Backover Accident
The attorneys at Wofsey Rosen will perform a full investigation into your situation to accurately determine fault. This may include:
- Obtaining and reviewing all relevant documentation
- Interviewing witnesses
- Determining whether any involved parties were cited by law enforcement
- Working with accident reconstruction experts or other expert witnesses as necessary
There are many avenues to help us determine who is at fault in a backover accident, and we will diligently work with you to leave no stone unturned and prepare your case accordingly.
Protecting Yourself in a Backover Case
Personal injury cases in Connecticut are governed by the principles of modified comparative negligence and the 51% rule, which allows accident victims to recover compensation even if they bear some responsibility for their own injuries, as long as their own share of fault does not exceed 50%. In these situations, however, the injured person’s will be reduced by you’re the percentage fault allocated to him or her. The 51% rule can therefore be helpful in situations where you hold minimal responsibility. This rule also underscores the importance of identifying all potential defendants to ensure that the plaintiff does not assume unfair burdens that reduce his or her recovery amount.
The ultimate burden of proof in a civil case is on the plaintiff. This means that the injured party is responsible for providing convincing evidence of the other person’s negligence.
Call Wofsey Rosen Today for the Support You Deserve
Backover accidents are terrifying, especially when a child has been injured. Drivers have a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers, even in parking lots or their own driveways.
Call us today to schedule a free case consultation to help you determine who is liable and hold them accountable.